


Depths of Knowledge

by Serie11



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, F/F, Post-Canon, Vala Lives, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 11:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21355426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/pseuds/Serie11
Summary: Aloy had recovered some files that had been created after the destruction of APOLLO, but mostly Vala reads the logs of the people of this place, who they were, what they felt. She reads about how the children slowly grew more and more restless, more and more angry that they could not access the wide space that they could see just below them. Sometimes, she doesn’t know how they stayed sane long enough to leave the cradle. They would have only known this space – not like how she knows the tops of mountains, the wide valleys and the feeling of a river running over her shins.She wonders how they felt, when they left. Those reactions aren’t recorded here. The last log that she has is when the bots told the children that when they left, they would not be able to come back – telling them to be brave. Vala touches her brave mark instinctively. History. It’s all here, underneath her fingertips.
Relationships: Aloy/Vala (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Vala & Varl (Horizon: Zero Dawn)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36
Collections: Femslash Exchange 2019





	Depths of Knowledge

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Squishy_TRex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squishy_TRex/gifts).

Vala hesitantly clicks on the screen, still unused to using the strange ancient technology. Even though she can’t feel anything, the blue turns a deeper purple, and there’s a soft chime. A wall of text pops up, and Vala sighs as she leans forward to read it. This is the past of her people… she needs to see it. Needs to know it. She owes them that much. She cannot turn her face away when she knows that their words are written here.

Aloy had recovered some files that had been created after the destruction of APOLLO, but mostly she reads the logs of the people of this place, who they were, what they felt. She reads about how the children slowly grew more and more restless, more and more angry that they could not access the wide space that they could see just below them. Sometimes, she doesn’t know how they stayed sane long enough to leave the cradle. They would have only known this space – not like how she knows the tops of mountains, the wide valleys and the feeling of a river running over her shins.

She wonders how they felt, when they left. Those reactions aren’t recorded here. The last log that she has is when the bots told the children that when they left, they would not be able to come back – telling them to be brave. Vala touches her brave mark instinctively. History. It’s all here, underneath her fingertips.

The door on the upper level makes a whirring sound. Vala doesn’t turn around, reading to the end of this passage. There’s only one person who is allowed in here – only one other person who would dare to step inside these sacred halls. With every new piece of information Vala receives, she doesn’t know if she believes more or less in the Mother. Or maybe her sight is just becoming more clear – of the machine called GAIA, who nurtured the world back from lifelessness. No matter what Aloy thinks of it, Vala thinks that has earned GAIA her place as one worshipped by the Nora.

“Hey,” Aloy calls, jumping down the last few steps.

“Patrols done for the day?” Vala asks.

“All done,” Aloy confirms. “Varl says that we’re welcome at his fire tonight.”

“We’re always welcome,” Vala reminds her. “Mother won’t be there, then?”

“She’s leading another patrol, and left before we got back,” Aloy says. “I think Varl was asking because he didn’t want to be lonely.”

“You can’t really go to the chief’s fire without being asked,” Vala agrees. “And anyone that Varl asked… well, it would be scrutinised. While I’m his sister, and you’re my mate. It’s normal that we would be eat by his fire.”

Aloy sits down in the chair next to hers. Vala finishes reading the file that she’s on, and closes it, carefully marking it in her Focus so that she can start at the right place tomorrow. When she looks at Aloy, she can’t help but smile. There’s dirt smeared across her face, and some of her braids are half undone, leaving her hair messier than normal. She’s still wearing her quiver and bow, even though there’s no danger in here. Habit, most likely. Vala doesn’t wear any weapons when she ventures into the mountain. Even though she knows the true purpose of the place now, it still feels too much of an imposition. She’s fairly certain that the Matriarchs agree, but they’ll never say anything to Aloy.

“We can go now,” Vala says. “I can tell that you’re hungry.”

Aloy jumps out of her seat and Vala swallows a laugh. “Sounds good to me.”

They walk up the stairs and through the massive doors. Vala shivers as they pass through – it feels like crossing a threshold, into a different world than down in the depths where she can delve into information to her heart’s content. Out here, the weight of the Matriarch’s gaze falls upon her as Aloy leads her out into the open air, and as they reach the village, the other members of the tribe start calling out – as her mother’s daughter, and as a brave, when her mother isn’t in the village, Sona’s duties fall to her. Most of the time Vala is happy to accommodate them, but today she can’t seem to stop thinking of stale air inside a place where the breeze never blew.

“Hey, hey, Vala will talk to you all after we’ve had some food,” Aloy chastises them lightly, and they fall silent under her eyes. Vala normally doesn’t rely on Aloy to stop everyone from talking to her, but just for this once, it’s acceptable.

Varl is already roasting something that smells excellent when they get closer, and Vala is forcibly reminded that the only thing she had for lunch was some jerky that had been half squished in the bottom of her pack. There’s signs of recent butchery, so Varl must have caught this meat on their patrol this afternoon.

“Vala, Aloy,” Varl greets them cheerfully. He sprinkles something over the meat and the few bits of it that fall into the fire scent the air nicely. Vala takes her normal place by Varl’s side, and picks up the bowl that he isn’t attending to. Crushing pine nuts under the long rock that she’s used for this purpose for her whole life, Vala falls into an easy rhythm.

“I have some Carja spices, if you want to try something new,” Aloy offers, and Varl tilts his head before accepting them. Vala leans over as he sniffs them and then pours them into another bowl, with a little bit of water. He quickly makes a paste, and then smears it over the roasting meat.

“Thank you,” Varl says, and Aloy nods.

“No problem.”

“Find anything interesting today?” Varl asks her, looking at her from the corner of his eye. Vala still doesn’t know if he approves of her trips into the mountain or not.

“Maybe,” Vala hums. “Did you know that there were actually several sections that the children were kept in? It segmented them into areas, and taught them different things. Almost like it wanted them to all have to rely on each other when they were released.”

Varl and Aloy’s expressions turn thoughtful. “Almost like how the Nora still operate,” Aloy points out.

“It makes sense,” Varl adds. “They would have had the biggest chance at staying alive if they were all together.”

Vala nods, and looks at her brother so she’ll doesn’t have to look Aloy drooling over the meat. “I thought the same. It’s interesting, how far away and yet how close we are to them.”

“They’ll always be with us,” Varl sighs.

“Are you going back down tomorrow?” Aloy asks.

Vala thinks of the stale air inside the mountain and shakes her head. “We should go on a hunt tomorrow, in the north. Winter is fast approaching – the tribe needs more winter stores.”

“Sounds good to me,” Aloy agrees. “We can leave in the morning. If we’re early enough, we might even dodge having to go with anyone else.”

“Aloy,” Varl chides, as if he can’t believe that she would be offering such advice. Vala can’t believe that he still doesn’t realise that Aloy is just permanently like that.

“We’ll sneak out with the dawn,” Vala decrees, and Aloy’s smile turns towards her and becomes fuller, more warm. Vala ducks her head and is glad that she can blame the flush in her cheeks on the fire.

Yes. A whole day off tomorrow, just with Aloy, sounds like a splendid time.


End file.
